Dialogue | Cao Huishuang

Which book has stayed with you, and why?

二十多岁时，我喜欢上了《平凡的世界》，小说中孙少安的那种，不安于现状，想有所作为，想改变一下命运的想法，也是我落榜回乡务农后，心底里的一种强烈愿望。孙少安孙少平两兄弟，那种对命运的抗争，是我所崇尚的，也是自己想做到的。美国女诗人狄金森有句诗，“要领略仙酒的滋味，须经最痛楚的寻觅。”是我心中的至理名言。

I was in my twenties, in love with Lu Yao’s Ordinary World. Sun Shaoan, big brother of the novel's protagonist Sun Shaoping, wanted more out of life. He wanted to do something meaningful, and change his fate. I felt the same way after I failed the college entrance exam and had to go back to my village to work. I admired the two brothers' refusal to accept their fate. I wanted to be like them.

There are also two lines by the American poet Emily Dickinson that have always stuck with me:

To comprehend a nectar

Requires sorest need.

I’ve always believed in those words.